Ashwin reviews the review in bizarre incident in TNPL 2023

In a bizarre play, two player reviews were taken off the same ball bowled by R Ashwin during a Tamil Nadu Premier League match between Dindigul Dragons vs Ba11sy Trichy in Coimbatore. After Trichy's R Rajkumar had successfully overturned an on-field caught-behind decision from umpire K Srinivasan in the 13th over, Ashwin signalled for another review of the same.

Ashwin, the Dindigul captain, was seemingly unhappy with the original decision being overturned and had a discussion with both on-field umpires, Srinivasan and MV Saidharshan Kumar. S Nishaanth, the TV umpire, ruled it not out once again.

Ashwin had turned a carrom ball away from the right-hand batter Rajkumar, with wicketkeeper B Indrajith cleanly collecting the ball behind the stumps. After multiple replays, Nishaanth deemed that the bat had hit the ground, not the ball. The UltraEdge detected a big spike when the bat hit the turf and then the TV umpire "saw a gap between bat and ball". He said that the gap was clear enough to reverse the on-field out decision.

Upon the second review, the TV umpire once again examined the UltraEdge visuals and said that the "spike was due to the bat hitting the ground" and there was "a gap between bat and ball".

The decision didn't have any impact on the final result as Dindigul went on to win by six wickets. After the game, though, Ashwin expressed his displeasure at the decision.

"Looking at the big screen, I felt [it was out]," he said at the post-match presentation. "DRS is a new rule in this competition. The spike [on UltraEdge] generally comes ahead of the bat, even if there is an edge. And to overturn the on field call, there has to be conclusive evidence. That they overturned it, I was slightly not happy. So, I reviewed it, hoping they [umpires] might look at it from a different angle."

Another Dindigul player, Adithya Ganesh, backed his captain's decision to go for a second review off the same ball.

"It was a very close call, right? It happens," Ganesh said at the post-match press conference. "I felt it was a close call from the inside. Again with Ash anna [brother], he was right to take the DRS as well."

The TNPL is in its seventh edition, but this is the first time that DRS - and the Impact Player rule - has been introduced in the league.

After having not been picked in the XI for the World Test Championship final against Australia, which ended on June 11 at The Oval, Ashwin flew from London to his hometown Chennai and then reached Coimbatore on June 13, on the eve of Dindigul's opener against Trichy. He finished with figures of 4-1-26-2.

"I'm feeling jetlagged," Ashwin said. "I did some stretching. Initially while starting the game, the first ten overs were okay. As the game progressed, the body became stiff. The jetlag is there, but I wanted to play with the boys."

During the TNPL auction that was held in Mahabalipuram on February 23, Ashwin had said that he had planned to make himself available for the entire TNPL 2023. But if Dragons make the playoffs, starting on July 7, Ashwin will likely miss those as India's tour of the West Indies will begin with the first Test in Dominica on July 12.

Earlier on Wednesday, in the afternoon fixture in Coimbatore, Washington Sundar returned from a hamstring injury, making his TNPL debut for Siechem Madurai Panthers. Washington scored 19 off 17 balls from No. 4 and bowled two wicketless overs for 17 runs as Madurai suffered a six-wicket defeat to Nellai Royal Kings.